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The Spanish Super Cup is a competition which has taken place since 1982, pitting the Spanish league champion against the champion of the Copa del Rey.
Until 1995, if a team won both the league and cup titles it won the Super Cup by default. However, since 1996, if a team does the double it must face the runner-up from the Copa del Rey for the right to claim the trophy.
This is the case in 2015. Barcelona, who won both trophies in 2015, will face Athletic Club de Bilbao on August 14 at San Mames and August 17 at Camp Nou.
FC Barcelona is the team that has won the Spanish Super Cup the most times, 11, most recently in 2013. Two of these trophies involved beating Athletic, in 1983 and 2009. In addition, the Catalan club has been runner-up eight times.
For its part, the Basque team only has one Super Cup in its trophy case. It was earned in 1984, when it won both La Liga and the Copa del Rey. It has played in two other finals, the aforementioned ones against Barcelona.
On a personal level, Lionel Messi seeks his 27th coronation. With the win last Tuesday in the UEFA Super Cup, the man who wears the Blaugrana number 10 has more trophies than any other Argentine in history, 26, beating out Alfredo Di Stefano‘s 25.
As if that were not enough, Messi could also be crowned the winningest player in terms of titles in Barcelona’s history, beating out Xavi with 25.
Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde has shown in practice the basis of their lineup for Friday: Herrerín as goalkeeper; a defense with Bóveda, Gurpegi, Laporte and Balenziaga; San Jose ahead in defensive midfield; Aketxe on the right, on the left Sabin, Eraso as a playmaker and Aduriz as striker. However, Beñat, De Marcos and Susaeta, are names that could be in the starting lineup too.
The injured Mikel Rico, Ander Iturraspe and Inaki Williams are not available for the first leg.
There are two players who want to win more than anyone else at Athletic Club of Bilbao: defenders Oscar De Marcos and Mikel Balenziaga. De Marcos scored his first goal in professional soccer against Barcelona in the 2009 Super Cup, while it Balenziaga who had a man-marking mission against Lionel Messi in the Copa del Rey final last year. They both will want to prove themselves.
"When Messi is on his game, like he was against Sevilla, when he played very well, it's difficult to stop him but we need to try. We can not allow him to get into his stride and if we're at our best, we can get a good result" said Balenziaga to the Spanish press.
Meanwhile, Barcelona could also have changes in their lineup after the European Super Cup in Georgia where they defeated Sevilla in 120 minutes. One of the most striking changes could be in goal, where Claudio Bravo could displace Ter Stegen after the latter played in Georgia. Players like Adriano, Marc Bartra and Pedro, who scored the winning goal on Tuesday in Tbilisi, could also see their roles and/or places on the team sheet change.
Barcelona is the favorite, looking to make this Super Cup their fifth crown of 2015. However, its players will just have 72 hours to recover from the clash in Georgia. There is another short turn around for the second leg on Monday, against a team in Bilbao that will be as rested, by comparison, as it is local; almost all of its players come from the Basque region of Spain, and none of them have had the globe-trotting last few months Barca has had.
